Ever been part of a software, website, or other project where decision makers had opposing or misinformed opinions about functionality or goals? As a web consultant, I ran into this quite a bit, and I continue to run into from time to time on various fronts.

Assuming that all members of a group have the same end goals in mind (a big assumption), breaking gridlock or steering folks away from ideas that will keep them from their goals is possible, and “version two” can help.

I have used version two in the past, but never really understood it until this past week while I was having drinks with an old friend from school and describing a project from years earlier. It was in that moment of description, over a pint of Guinness, that the power of version two hit me.

In groups, version two steers people away from their ideal solution toward more reasonable and realistic short term goals. These goals are typically easier to build consensus around than the larger, end-goal, and therefore, allow the group to move forward with all members feeling like some of their personal vision will be released immediately and the rest will come in version two. By the time version two rolls around, the individuals in the group have more knowledge and shared context, so their ideals have converged a bit more, and the process repeats until the final goal is reached.

As individuals, version two helps us by allowing us to make progress toward our own idealistic end-point. Version two can help us convince oneselves that the next baby step is good enough and that the ideal is just a few steps beyond instead of impossible to reach.

So when trying to get something done myself or in a group, I always try to remember the power of version two.

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